Railway car chock



Aug. 26, 1941.v R. H. WERNER RAILWAY CAR cHocK Filed Jan. 16, 1941 Figure Figure 3 Fig; 5 f/Z Figure 4 INVENTOR. RUDOLPH H. WERNER www Figure Patented Aug. 26, 1941 UNITED STATE-S *PATENT CFFICE Application January 16, 1941, Serial No. 374,646

3 Claims.

Ill'iis `invention relates to railway car 4choc-ks and @has for its o'blJect to provide a `simple 'dutable and e'fcient device which :may be readily applied to I'a railway track for chock-ing the wheels of fthe `car at any :poi-nt thereon.

@ne object =o= this .invention to .produce a chock which shall be so construct-ed that it will .provide a very high rdegree of frictional resist- 'ancebetween it and the rai-ls fand also between 'the periphenial sur-face foi `the wheels and the chock.

Another object is to Vprovide a chock of such construction that it will not be locked A-on lthe track by the action ci the wheel, but which can :be moved ywhen occasion requires so as -to 'shift the position 'of the car.

AAnother 'object vof this :invention is to provide Va chock that will Iautomatically adjust itsel'f to rails fof differing widths and which will be automatically centered 'on the rails -by resilient means.

Another objectyfis to prov-ide la uchock having means that will resist transverse tipping of the chock.

And a further object 4is to .prov-ide ya fchock that will i-unfction as a derailer laddition -to its ordinary checking *fun-Action.

'The above and other objects that may appear .ias this description proceeds are attained by Imeans Iof =a construction 'and an arrangement of parts that will now be described indeand tor this purpose reference will be had .to the accompanying drawing, in 'which the in- Ventron has been illustrated in '.it's preferred form, and in which:

'Figi-ure is 'a `side elevation of `a rail showing the "chock in position thereon and showing a railway wheel in x'operative engagement therewith;

Eig-ure 2 is a .section taken `on line 2 2, Figure l;

3 is a .si-'de `elevation rof the chock `showing the same to 5a scale approximately twice that l`of Figure 1';

.Figure '4 is a section maken on line --L Fig- 3., shows 'th-'e resilient clamping means; r'igur'e 5 'is 'a section similar to that shown :Figure l2, bult looking 1in the direction of Sarr-cws Figure -l and 'shows the chock inclined and shown" :further how the tilting is wheels just before the car is derailed by the action of the chock.

in the drawing, refer-ence 'numeral Ii) desigthe bal-l of the rail whose upper surface formsV the tread and reference numeral I2 designates lthe peripherial surface of a railway wheel that is secured to one end of an axle I3. In -Fgure l the chock has been shown in operative position in which position it holds the car from moving towards .the right due to the action of gravity yor in response to other 'forces The chock which forms the subject of this invention consists of a block I4 which .in the present embodiment is made from hard wood, such as oak or maple., Ibut which may be made from any other suitable material, including metal. The block has its bottom surface I5 and its top surface It parallel and connected at one end by a Vertical end Il. The upper surface :I6 is shorter than the lower surface I5 and the latter terminates in an upwardly extending vertical end I8, the upper end of which is conne'cted with the 'tcp surface lr6 by means of an .incline surface lI-S. In Figure 3, dotted lines 16a and I 8c show how the top lr6 and end I8 can be extended to form a rectangular parallelogram. The inclined side I9, if extended to intersect the bottom I5 would form with the latter an acute angle which has been truncated by the 'vertical end I8. l This construction is of considerable practical importa-nce for reasons that will appear as the description proceeds. Secured to the sides Iof the block I'll are two metal plates 2t which are 'slightly larger than the block so that their edges` overhang the latter as indicated -by the dotted lines in Figure 3, which show the outlines of the spacer block. The metal .plates 20 extend rearwardly as indicated by reference numeral 2| and the ends of these extensions are separated by a handle 22 which is held in 'place by means of a rivet or bolt '23. The metal plates 2i! are secured to the block by bolts 24 of which as many are employed as may be deemed necessary. `The metal plates extend downwardly below the bottom I5 yoi" the 4block and these downward extensions' are somewhat shorter than the sides directly above, so as to provide shoulders 25. A fabric belt 25 issecured to the block in the recess between the metal plates and covers all of the outer surfaces of the block with the exception of the end wall Il. The fabric belt or friction member is secured to the block vby means of screws 21 or by other suitable means. Instead of a fabric belt ordinary lbrake lining may be employed as the object is to provide a surface having a large coelcient of friction when engaged by a metal surface. Secured to the downward projections of the metal plates 20 are clamping members 28, which preferably extend a short distance below the lower edges of the metal sides. The clamping members may be formed from steel plates of considerable rigidity and have their ends 29 turned inwardly so as to project into the space between the plates 20 as shown most clearly in Figure 4. The distance between the inturned ends 29 is less than the width of the rail tread and therefore the clamping plates must move outwardly when ever the chock is positioned on a rail. In the present embodiment the clamping members 28 are secured to the metal plates by means of bolts or other suitable means, such as bolts which have been designated by reference numeral 3B. Springs 3I are positioned between the heads of the bolts and the clamping members and serve to urge the latter intof the full line position shown in Figure 4. When the chock is secured to the rail, the clamping members will move outwardly towards the position shown by dotted lines in Figure 4. When pressure is exerted on the ends 29 to separate them the springs 3| will be compressed and the clamping members themselves will be flexed to some extent. The preferable material for the clamping members 28 is spring steel and when this material is employed, the clamping members can be securely riveted or welded to the sides at their middle points and the spreading action obtained by flexing the clamping members instead of partly by compressing the springs 3|. It is to be understood that the exact construction shown in Figure 4, as far as it relates to the resilient clamping means, is merely illustrative as the same effect can be obtained by the alternative construction referred to above or by other mechanical equivalents.

Let us no-w assume that a chock constructed as above described and illustrated on the drawing is to be applied to a rail in the manner shown in Figures l and 2. The chock is forced downwardly until the friction member 25 rests on the top of the rail and it will be held quite rigidly in this position by the action of the resilient clamping members. The truncated end I8 of the chock points towards the car and when the latter approaches it, the peripherial surface of the wheel will engage the corner formed by the intersection of the edges of plates 20 which are parallel with surfaces I8 and I9 of block I4. The downward component of the force produced by the action of the wheel engaging the chock helps to force the latter against the upper surface of the rail and to increase the frictional resistance against sliding. If the momentum of the car is so great that the Wheel is raised from the track and rests on the inclined surface, the downward component of the forces will be greatly increased and will hold the chock in position in opposition to the longitudinal component of the force. If the wheel travels upwardly along the inclined surface until it gets to the top of the .chock the wheels and axle will assume the position shown in Figure 6, whereupon the chock will tilt towards the left and permit the car to move in the same direction and be derailed. By selecting the proper side of the track the car can be derailed to either side as may be desired.

Attention is called at this point to the fact already noted, that under normal conditions the car wheel engages the fabric belt 26 at the corner corresponding to the corner formed by the intersection of the end surface I8 and inclined surface I9. In this Iposition the chock holds the car against movement but at the same time the chock can be moved towards the right when viewed as in Figure l, with the application of a comparatively small force. Due to this feature of the construction, this chock can be used for shifting the position of a car along an inclined track without involving any danger of the car getting away, the chock is merely moved towards the right and will be followed by the car which will be positively held against movement in any position desired.

It will be obvious that if the inclined surface extended downwardly so as to form an acute angle with the base, the chock would be locked under the wheel with such force as to prevent its being moved in the manner above indicated and the truncated construction is therefore believed to be an important feature of this chock.

The resilient clamping means not only holds the chock on the rail with considerable force and helps to center it, but also serves to prevent undue tilting Kas indicated in Figure 5. When force is applied to the block tending to tilt it, the downwardly extending sides and the clamping members will engage the web of the rail on one side and resist the tilting action.

In the drawing the chock has been shown as provided with eyebolts 32 to one of which a chain 33 is attached and after this chain is placed underneath the rail, the free end is inserted through the other eyebolt and held in place by a padlock 34. This simple means of locking the chock to the rail assures that it cannot be removed by people intent on malicious mischief.

Owing to the light construction of the chock it can be readily carried by the handle 22 and positioned wherever necessary.

Having described the invention what is claimed yas new is:

1. A railway wheel chock comprising a body having attached thereto sides projecting downwardly below the bottom forming flanges for positioning the chock on .the tread of a rail, resilient clamping means for yieldingly holding the chock in position on the rail, said means comprising elongated spring bars secured at their middle points to the flanges and positioned outside of the latter and parallel to the rail tread, the ends of the bars being turned inwardly to engage the sides of the tread of the rail, a fabric member covering the bottom one end and the upper surface of the chock, and means for holding the said member in position.

2. A railway wheel chock comprising a spacer body having substantially parallel top and bottom edges, the top being shorter than the bottom, one short vertical end wall, and an inclined wall joining the top to .the short end wall, a metal plate secured to each side of the spacer body, the metal plates extending a short distance beyond the edges of the spacer body, the plates having portions projecting downwardly below the bottom forming spaced positioning flanges, and a friction member extending along the bottom, the short end, the inclined side and the top, the thickness of the friction member being greater than the projection of the metal plates beyond the spacer body.

3. A railway wheel chock comprising a spacer body, a sheet metal plate attached to each of the opposite sides of the body, the plates extending below the bottom of the spacer body to form positioning anges, and a resilient elongated clamping member secured at its middle point to the outside of each flange, the ends of the clamping members being turned inwardly `and terminating beyond the inner surfaces of the flanges for engagement with the sides of a, rail tread portion to position the chock thereon and hold it in adjusted position.

RUDOLPH H. WERNER. 

